Rivian might add a deployable roof-top cover to the record of equipment for its EVs, if a current patent submitting is any indication.
The automaker filed a patent software titled “Cover with Deployable Construction” with the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) in early 2023; that software was revealed by the USPTO on Might 14.
In line with the appliance, the cover would deploy from a container mounted on a roof rack. Tubular arms would prolong out from this container, inflating with assistance from compressed air. Material can be stretched over the arms, which might act as a kind of skeletal construction, to kind the cover, very similar to an umbrella.
The inflatable tubes that kind the construction of the cover could possibly be comprised of a wide range of supplies, together with plastic, nylon, rubber or latex, based on Rivian. They’re designed to help the cover beneath as a lot as six inches of snow or wind speeds of as much as 30 mph. They is also made self lubricating or hydrophobic, Rivian claims.
Rivian deployable roof-top cover patent picture
All of this is able to be performed mechanically, saving the trouble required to manually deploy a car cover, Rivian notes within the software. The automaker additionally claims this design will save on the wear and tear and tear that comes with unpacking and stowing typical canopies.
A cover like this might complement equipment like a rooftop tent and camp kitchen already out there for Rivian EVs. And different current patent filings level to extra add-ons, together with a tailgate workbench and mattress rack system for pickup vehicles, in addition to built-in winches that may be managed from a car’s touchscreen.
